Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Mulgrew Postpones Rally at PEP While Moskowitz Keeps Coming

Charter school advocates are planning to show up en masse to support the few charter school co-location votes before the Panel for Educational Policy. Last year, few charter school supporters came to the vote and many said they felt bruised by the show of anti-charter sentiment. So the following month, they arrived at the meeting in busloads to make their views heard.

Tomorrow {Feb.1}, charter school supporters may outnumber their opponents. Because of the threatening weather forecasts, the teachers union has postponed its rally — and attendant jumbotron — until Thursday.

We heard weeks ago that Bloomberg had told Joe Williams from DFER to bring people out to this meeting to support Moskowitz and Cathie Black I guess. The UFT decided on a show of strength of its own by organizing a rally at 4 today. GEM and the Real Reformers were looking forward to supporting the UFT in its efforts, but it looks like we will have to battle the Moskowitz meanies on our own.

What was billed tonight as a possible confrontation between Moskowitz busloads and the UFT has been punted - due to the weather the UFT claims. The UFT will hold its rally before this Thursday's PEP meeting. Maybe it shows who is tougher: Moskowitz or Mulgrew.

Let me take you back to last January when the UFT packed Brooklyn Tech and Joel Klein was booed throughout his speech. But after that the UFT folded up their militant tent and went to court, leaving the February meeting to Moskowitz' hordes cheering and praising Klein - except when they trashed the schools he was supposedly running as a reason why they needed charters - as we sat there watching in frustration and asking, "Where was the UFT?" I guess tonight be a repeat.

The Gotham Schools report is a good summary of what is/was to go on tonight at the PEP meeting and what happened last January at the 10 hour marathon meeting.

Eva Moskowitz, CEO of the Success Charter Network of schools, is bringing parents of students at her school. A spokeswoman for the network said that 2,100 parents had signed up to make the trip to Brooklyn Tech High School for the meeting. Last year, this swell of charter school supporters would have been matched by turnout from the teachers union, but the union has postponed its rally until Thursday because of the snow predictions.

Don't expect the place to be devoid of public school teachers, parents and students - unless the weather interferes - no hedge fund money to get buses and pizza like Eva has - due to the number of closing and co-location schools on the agenda. Real Reformers will be there with capes and song.Here is the list from the Gotham article:

Closure:Metropolitan Corporate AcademyPaul Robeson High SchoolSchool for Community Research and LearningUrban Assembly Academy for History and Citizenship for Young MenNew Day AcademyMonroe Academy for Business/Law High SchoolAcademy of Environmental Science Secondary SchoolI.S. 195 Roberto ClementeKAPPA IIAcademy of Collaborative EducationI.S. 231 Magnetech

Co-location (nee - INVASION):New high school 12X521 to replace Monroe Academy for Business/Law High School (12X690)New middle schools I.S. 355 and I.S. 356 to replace I.S. 231 MagnetechHarlem Success Academy 1 (grades 5-8) with Wadleigh Secondary School and the Frederick Douglass Academy II Secondary School in 2012-13Success Academy Charter School with Brandeis High School